BillsFan4

100% agree on the consistent goaltending part. That has been a major difference. Especially having a guy like Hutton vs Lerner. They are polar opposites. Hutton can be counted on to make the big saves when the team needs it most. Plus his personality is night and day different. Lehner was super emotional. He would have Wild mood swings (on and off the ice). I remember Claude Giroux saying that Lehner was his favorite goaltender to play against because it was so easy to get in his head and get him worked up. Hutton is the opposite. He is a calming influence on the ice, and a great veteran mentor on and off the ice. They also definitely have some real, competent middle/bottom 6 depth for the first time in years, which definitely helps. Plus it caused some actual competition for those roster spots, which is also important IMO. And i obviously agree that adding Skinner has helped, especially since he’s on fire since being moved with Eichel. They have undeniable chemistry together. But, honestly, I don’t know that replacing Ryan O’Reilly (who has been fantastic for STL (12g 29pts), and much better than any C on the Sabres not named Eichel) and Evander Kane (playing great in SJ) with Jeff Skinner and Berglund/Sobotka/Sheary is that huge an upgrade in talent. ROR has more points than Berglund, Sobotka and Sheary combined. They had way more talent than a 31st place team last year, I know that..... I would argue that we upgraded our bottom 6 depth, upgraded over Kane on LW and made a massive downgrade at 2C (for this season, anyway) by replacing O’Reilly with bottom 6 depth and futures. Mittelstadt, who many thought could replace ROR this season, hasn’t been able to come close yet. I think he will be a good player in the long term, but a lot of nights he is a total non-factor. Same goes for Tage Thompson. Tage had that few game stretch when he started to score. But before and after that, he hasn’t really contributed much of anything. Both Tage and Casey have been totally invisible lately, too. Again, I think they’ll be fine long term. But both just don’t seem 100% ready for the NHL yet. Sheary was good the first 10 games or so, but hasn’t been very good lately. His last point came back on November 23rd, and his last goal came way back on Nov. 8th. Our 4th line is definitely improved this season. Obviously adding Dahlin has been huge. That has helped the defense corps for sure. McCabe and Bogo both healthy (well, not McCabe atm) and playing well has too. But Scandella, who was very good last year and playing like crap this year, has hurt. We are basically a 1 line team though (on many nights). If Eichel’s line isn’t “on”, the Sabres are probably going to have a tough time winning right now. Where as in previous seasons, we did have 2 top 6 centers that were capable of carrying a line and producing, but we had less bottom 6 depth. So, I would say that overall the talent on the team is upgraded, but not a crazy amount over last season. I think there are a lot of little things that have all added up, as far as the improvements to this team go. But I truly think that that one of the biggest differences is the culture - just the overall attitude of the players in the locker room and on the ice, as well as their decision to buy-in, get everyone on the same page, play the way their coach is asking them to and give more of a consistent effort every game. I think that has probably been equally important with the other changes. I mean, just look what happens when the Sabres get away from playing the right way (like the 2nd period last night). They are not a very good team when that happens... All the Sabres players talked about how they met over the summer and had some real heart to heart meetings. They said they all decided to finally start holding each other accountable to playing the way they were supposed to play (following the game plan). Like Andrew Ference said, there’s not much a coach can do with a group of players that won’t listen to him. They are finally willing to listen to their coach and follow his game plan. That was a huge issue in years past (talked about by many players and media members). They simply wouldn’t follow a game plan or stick to a system. They’d all just kind of do their own thing for much of a game, especially if they got behind. They were not very coachable, either (at least according to numerous beat writers like Hamilton, Vogl, Harrington etc). They had a large group of players that refused to take coaching. Team chemistry is also much better. The locker room is not a toxically negative place anymore. Even after a loss, the post game interviews aren’t doom and gloom now. They are showing some confidence. They aren’t hanging their heads when they get down in a game. They aren’t giving up or going totally off script when that happens. Buffalo had had talent last year, but they just weren’t a team, and they were so fragile. Just look around the NHL. Look at teams like the St. Louis Blues. They have WAY more talent than their 3rd last record shows. But their culture sucks right now. They are also a totally fragile group. Same goes for LA. Or look at Las Vegas. They did not have the talent that Stanley Cup finals teams usually have. They were a collection of cast offs - lots of #4 defenseman and #5/6 forward types. But they came together as a group after that LV shooting, and they just played a relentless style of hockey that carried them to the finals and helped many guys on that team have career years. There are are plenty of examples like that throughout the NHL. Either teams with plenty of talent struggling, or teams with less talent playing really well (Montreal, for ex.). Anyway... just my opinion but I truly believe that culture is huge. Btw, sorry about the essay... lol edit - also, check out the post game interviews from last night. Every player attributed their success to deciding to get back to playing the right way - https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/locker-room-sabres-kings-0

Interesting read. Definitely recommend reading the whole article. Or at least the part after the Lucic talk. It’s an interview with Andrew Ference on the 31 thoughts show with Elliott Friedman. IMO It really bangs home the importance of culture and what a big role it plays. He also touches on how playing in a super negative media and fan market effects the players. A lot of the stuff he said made me think he was describing the Buffalo Sabres of recent years. Or if you’d prefer to listen -

Great 3rd period by buffalo. Glad to see that resilient Sabres team show up again. 1st was ok. 2nd was just awful. But they won and ended the damn losing streak, so I’ll take it. Not sure it it should have even went to OT against a 30th place team playing a back to back. But a win is a win.

I have so little patience left for this team when they are playing the way they are during this 2nd period tonight.

Wow. He was supposed to be one of the the next hot, up-and-coming head coaching candidates. Hey, Id take him as our QB coach in a heart beat!

I love Aaron Williams and I will always respect him for the way he laid his body on the line for the Buffalo Bills. I have no idea what happened or who is at fault. But I will say that A. Williams has always been a very emotional guy and I think sometimes he lets his emotions get the best of him. No idea if that’s the case here or not, though.

Oh man, did anyone else catch Gruden’s press conference addressing the firing? Its almost a Doug Whaley “I didn’t know Rex was going to be fired” level of denial and BS... lol “This was all somewhat surprising. There had been a lot of speculation, a lot of rumor coming out of here since early in the season. You don’t know what’s real, what’s smoke, what’s fire. You really don’t.”. He goes on to say that he didn’t know McKenzie was going to be fired. He said he went home after Sunday’s game, and then heard there was a meeting and McKenzie was let go. Then went on to say say that he didn’t know if he’d have any input on who will replace McKenzie. Found this line funny, too. Asked if re-signing Jared Cook is a priority - “Hopefully, it’s a high priority. Whoever the general manager is, we’ll show him some tape of Jared Cook. … Hopefully, we get him back.”

When I first glanced at the thread title I read it as ‘Reuben Foster’ and was going to say WTF? lol Congrats Robert!

You should be able to, unless it’s strictly a PC game. If there is a mobile version, it’s available in the App Store. There is an endless amount of games in that App Store... If you tell me the name of the game, I can look it up and tell you for sure. If it’s not s game from the App Store and you play it right on Facebook, You can download the Facebook app for the iPad so I am sure you’d be able to play it. I love my ipad. I had an old iPad 2nd generation and am now on my 2nd one (iPad Pro that I picked up last year). I pretty much use it as my main computer these days.

Hope the kid is ok.

I don’t know if McDermott will fire him during the season or not, but I’d be surprised if he is back next year.

Kick coverage has just been awful today.

I actually still have mine. I came across it recently in an old dresser drawer in my basement. Found an original Nintendo too, with a box full of games. Didn’t set them up yet but I am planning to when I get a chance and have some free time.

Seems appropriate - Edit -lol Joe, you beat me to it.

Wtf. They are just falling apart in the 3rd. 6-2 flyers... unreal. 6 straight goals for Philly. They are just embarrassing Buffalo at this point. Looking like this will be loss #5 in a row. Buffalo has to get their **** together pretty quick or that entire cushion of points they built will slip away in the blink of an eye.

Yeah he is. He has to be active with Nelson, Scandella and McCabe all injured. With Nelson and McCabe both week to week, I am hoping it gives Pilut the time to cement his place in the lineup. If he keeps playing like he did last game (fingers crossed!), It’ll be tough for buffalo to send him back down...

Ok, this is a somewhat embarrassing, but damn funny, story from my childhood (I want to say I was around 10-12yrs old), and not the story I thought I’d be typing on TBD today... lol. My family and I were on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC for Easter. We went every year with all my cousins etc. and stayed for a couple weeks at a nice resort. My mother, sister and myself were all waiting for the elevator. There was also a younger couple there (I’d guess in their 20’s) waiting for the elevator, all lovey-dovey and kissing and whatnot. Well.... as this couple is kissing, Out of nowhere I just let out one of the loudest farts ever. I mean, it was LOUD. So... immediately afterwards I turn, look at my mother and said (really loudly) “Mommm!?!”.... Like the great mother she is, she stays silent and takes the blame for me. The couple waiting there is in absolute Hysterics, just laughing their a** off. My sister is laughing, I am laughing and my mom is kind of laughing too, but probably more embarrassed that I blamed her for it. I dont think that couple stopped laughing the entire elevator ride. and, as I’m sure you can imagine, every one of my aunts, uncles and cousins on vacation with us all heard about that story the rest of the trip... lol

Amerks game is on MSG right now.

Boy, I had heard how the refs put their whistle away when the leafs play, but man they weren’t kidding. https://www.foxsports.com/nhl/team-stats?season=2018&category=MISCELLANEOUS&group=1&time=0&pos=0&team=1&page=1 leafs are last in the NHL in penalty minutes, as well as opponent penalty minutes.

Yesterday left me more encouraged about Allen than I have ever been, up to this point. He really showed some thing that get you excited about his future potential. There is obviously still a long ways to go, but I really like the direction he seems to be headed in. Edit -btw, thanks for sharing those articles OP. I enjoyed reading them both.

Officiating was awful today. A lot of non-calls on Miami that were worse penalties than what the Bills got flagged for.

Josh Allen is a gamer, man. Encouraging to see. He played his best football when the game was on the line in the 4th quarter. Bills should have won.

Man that stings. Clay HAS TO make that catch.

Clay it was right there man. Ah what a freaking heart breaker.

Fudge.